Saturday, November 9, 2013

Hello all! So, this week's challenge for I.F. is "energy," and as it takes energy to make music and to dance, I am submitting the little "card-toon" card below.

It's a Dia De Los Muertos card, where two skeleton boys are enjoying making music while they dance (and their perrito wants to join in too). Dia De Los Muertos is a beautiful holiday, and the "energy" of the holiday is all about celebrating and commemorating people who have passed. So, I'm submitting this card for the challenge since the theme of "energy" applies all around.

And now, time for some links and other photos!

Here is the link to do Illustration Friday, and to submit your piece between now and next Friday (when they'll change from the theme of "Energy" to another one): http://illustrationfriday.com/

Also: This card and other "Dia De Los Muertos" themed cards are carried at the Quetzal Boutique, a beautiful store in East Los Angeles. They carry a lot of work created by Chicano Artists, Artists from Mexico, and Artists from Central and South America. I am honored to have gotten to make some cards for their boutique, which also carries clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Their Facebook page has lots more info, so please click on that below:

Can't believe Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos were a full week ago. In any event, I am running off, and will be in a fun event tonight! It's one I've vended at previously, but instead I'm going to do live art tonight. Never done it before officially (have done it a few times for fun just to have something to do), but I'm looking forward to it.

If you're in Anaheim, check out the ACE (Art Crawl Experience), Downtown by the Promenade. Info here:

Sunday, November 3, 2013

So, I am bummed to be missing L.A.'s amazing Convention, "Comickaze." I hope to exhibit there one day in the future, and I was looking forward to going and seeing some friend exhibitors there today. However, deadlines and life (as well as Mercury in Retrograde) have had other plans for me, so I am working on an article for a deadline, and a poster project. Plus, I am tabling at LBCC in just under a month, so, it's time to start cranking out work for that as well.

But since my blogging has fallen off a bit lately, here's a new post. I'm submitting to the "Secret" theme for this week's "Illustration Friday." This mini-painting is called "Strawberry-Cinnamon Donut Time." I've also begun to do more fanart for fun and for conventions, so, here is one combining "Adventuretime" and "Strawberry Shortcake."

In this one, Strawberry Shortcake and Peppermint Butler are sharing a silly "secret," and a donut. However, Cinnamon Bun cannot hear their conversation, assumes the worst, and that he is not long for this world. Poor Cinnamon Bun!

My website will soon have a new Fanart section up. Until then, I'll post the link to my new "like" page on Facebook, and the link for anyone else to submit to I.F.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

In the above minipainting "Doctor Who-supial," (a limited edition print of which will be available at the Meltdown Comics Store DOCTOR WHO themed show in one week from this Friday on November First; the original was sold at the "Locust Moon" comics festival in Philly), the lives of the two main characters are quite "entangled!"

Amy Pond and the Doctor have a complicated connection, and so do Fuzzy Pond and Doctor Who-Supial. Oh also, the Fez is entangled in her rope, as she hopes to lasso the silly thing off of his head.

More updates and recaps of past awesome conventions when I can get my stuff together. Playing catchup + Mercury in Retrograde = No schedule things going quite as planned, but, oh well. Someday in the future, the Fan Art/Mashup section of my site will be up, and this image/the others in its vein will have a digital place to live.

But for now, please check out I.F. and submit yourself until Friday if you'd like! Link below (-:

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

NYCC was awesome! I tabled in Artist's Alley, and even came into town early, as I flew in on Octoer 4th to exhibit at the Locust Moon Convention. It was an Indie Con, in Philly, and it/the city was a great experience. From there I headed to the NYC 'burbs to be with my family, and then commute back and forth when exhibiting at New York Comic Con's Artist Alley this past weekend. I came back to California early today.

However, I am now unable to sleep. Oh you, Jetlag. Oh you.

But in better news, in the NYCC spirit, I am posting a teaser post to my main minicomic. Meet Sam and Bob, in their pre-Angel and Devil form. Yes, I said Angel and Devil. And yes, they are clams.

Stay tuned for more info on their web, and in print/zine-y (see what I just did there?) Activities.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Hi everyone! Well this post is bittersweet, for Mr. Toast has announced this is the last "Creative Tuesdays" collab blog/challenge.

However, he is going to be focusing on his own illustrations and work, which are amazing! Everyone should check them out.

In any case, Although I did not have time to make a new drawing for "Teatime," I had time to refashion a greeting card that I had, with tea, into a pattern. Ever since a long ago "Creative Tuesdays" challenge of pattern making, I have gotten into the habit of making them for fun. Some I'd even like to print out on a tee or a tablecloth one day if it were possible (perhaps a tablecloth for an "Alice in Wonderland" styled tea-party?), but we shall see.

In any case, the "Teatime" pattern features pups playing with sugar, tea, and coffee-- sweets and caffeine everywhere! Don't feed your real life pups this stuff, but if you draw cartoons, your on-paper-puppies can luckily eat anything you draw, without incident ^_^

Thank you very very much Mr. Toast for your hard work, kindness, and opportunity for artists to submit work to a very fun bi-weekly collab. I will keep up with your art, and miss this very much. Virtual hugs, and the best of wishes to you!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

So I've just learned through Twitter, that you are 232 years old. Please accept my illustration of Hollywood Forever turned birthday-card for this occasion.

The Left Coast is my second home, and I have been hopping back and forth between NYC and L.A. for seven years now. Eeeep, weird. Soy vieja :-\ But both where I hail from and where I spend a great deal of my time now here are great places in their own right, and I am grateful/lucky to have learned the ins and outs of Los Angeles, and all of the the things that make it a great place (and all of the things its many detractors either don't know about, or don't care to learn).

In both coast news, I just got some yay news about upcoming conventions which I'll have to update about. But for now, I can mention that I will be tabling at the West Hollywood Book Fair, and I am excited/need to get cracking on art for this and other events.

Love to NYLA, and anyone else celebrating L.A.'s B-Day that may come across this random blog.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

So, taking a nap right after a Con makes you stay up late. Le fail. But not let fail, is this theme for I.F.! Which, since I'm already awake, I will post my entry for.

As coffee gives me the "power" to keep going (along with a great deal of the population), and I think that there is great "power" in happiness and laughter, I am submitting this handmade greeting card to Illustration Friday.

Which in English translates to, "What did the teaspoon say to the sugar?" "I’ll wait for you in the café." The pun is because "cafe" simeltaneously means "cafe" you sit in, and coffee you drink. Yes world, I have now crossed the threshold into hopefully lots more punning, and not just in English :-p

So, the main thing in this card "power" related is the coffee and sugar abounding and giving everybody energy (physical power), and I hope also the "power" of laughter, punning, and silliness. Oh, and love, between people/dogs/etc., since the two protagonists seem happy with one another and their various perritos.

This and several other Spanish (along with a few English and blank cards) will be available at the second day of the Latino Comics Expo in Long Beach, where I am sharing a table with an awesome cartoonist named Gabby. Today's first day was really fun, and am looking forward to tomorrow's! Link and info below.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

So, here is a greeting card I finally finished in time for "Creative Tuesdays!" I just got back from travelling to Oregon, and while I did not get to explore the forest there, it put me in a forest-y mood. So many trees, and so much green, everywhere! There are no pine trees in my illustration, alas, as this is a clearing within a forest.

The trees on the outside protect the little girls and their forest friends, who are a bunny and a deer. They don't know the sun is peeking in on their scene, but they need not worry-- he'll keep them warm and protect them.

I'm quite tired, so I won't write more, but here is the link to submit to today's "forest" theme at Mister Toast's great "Creative Tuesdays:"

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Okay, so above is my handmade greeting card submission for Creative Tuesdays and "Ships." I am so very exhausted writing this from wandering all around San Diego and the big ol' convention this past weekend, but I have been working on many cards for a convention I am in coming up. I created this one specifically for the theme at Creative Tuesdays, and it's been probably the one I've had the most fun on out of all of the cards I have been drawing of late (-: .

Thematically, here are some exhausted/hopefully coherent bullet points as to it tying into the theme:

1. The literal ship: seen in the background, chugging away, and piloted by a faraway Swordfish.

2. The fashion ships. If you peek over at the humans' attire, perhaps (at least I hope!) some ship-py designs can be seen.

3. The relationship: the Swordfishy romance.

4. The friendship: the inseparable bond between the two human children.

I am thinking of captioning it, "Ship Ship, Hooray! Have a Wonderful Day!" But I may actually caption it in Spanish as I am creating bi-lingual cards for this event. Also, it seems as if it should have a romantic bent.

I had a rough past three weeks from life/stress/Mercury in Retrograde, but I feel much better having finished drawing this, and to have done it for this challenge. C.T. is the best and when I am awake/eyes not pulsing from staring at a computer screen, I will check out everybody's work.

Thank you as always, Mister Toast --!!

EDITED TO ADD: Here is the link to submit to new C.T. challenges, and where to see older ones! I was so exhausted I forgot to post it before :-\

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I should draw said pomeranian, because I heart her so and she is so fluffy. She is technically not my dog, but I spend a lot of time with her and she means very much to me.

That is all. More productive posts later, after Mecury in Retrograde decides to take a break from being the Lucy to my Charlie Brown, and pulling a way a football to make me trip every time I take a step.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Today's I.F. challenge is "Equality," and in the spirit of the DOMA/Proposition 8 related Supreme Court rulings this week, here is an equality inspired digital collage of a few of my greeting cards.

#LoveIsLove , as trended on Twitter yesterday :-D

In art specific news, and on the topic of love, anyone in the L.A. Area should come to Monkeyhouse toys tomorrow afternoon and evening! The Gallery and Kid's toy store is having a show called "Paper Trail," where everyone submitted works on paper.

I (along with maaaany other artists, awesomely big show!) have a piece and am scheduled to vend there, and it will be a great place to see good art, and hang out with nice people. Mayra and all the other Monkeyhouse artists are loving and awesome individuals, so anyone who likes pretty pictures and a fun, friendly event should come out.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

In my minicomic about a little plush Koala, and a not-so-nice biologically living koala, there's definitely some "surveillance" going on. Mainly, the latter is following around the former and does not seem like he's plotting anything good.

Poor little teddy (marsupial) is being watched, with his every move, although he has no idea. He is too busy dealing with "Toy Story 3" style angst and problems.

Here is the opening panel! But the words have been removed, so there's somewhat of a surprise for anyone who happens to come across the print version ;-) If you were to fill in the blank, what would you think this malicious marsupial might be thinking?

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

So, my "Creative Tuesdays" submissions keep matching up with things I am working on! A while ago, I was finishing a story for an anthology that was about the Russian Revolution of 1917. For the same company, and a different anthology, I have been working on a different story I just finished. It was written by Ray Goldfield, and focused on a boy and a girl's first love experiences meeting at the Jersey Shore. She's a local, and he is a visitor for the summer, and he sadly has to move home to the city at the conclusion of his beach vacation.

Below is a sneak peek and my C.T. submission. While finishing the story's drawings, one of the final scenes made me think of this C.T. challenge as I worked on it. Particularly the phrases, "I have to go home," "I have to move home," "We only moved in for the summer."

In my personal experiences, moving is great, but it can also be very sad. Particularly when making a new friend, and then having the friend go off from whence they came. It's bittersweet to stay and see a friend go home, and it's bittersweet to move home after an extended stay somewhere (a vacation, a study abroad, and so on). I thought a lot about those things and about moving when doing this panel, where one protagonist waves goodbye while the other stares back at his friend in the distance.

I can't spoil the story as I did not write it, but I can say that it is a great story and it has what I thought was an uplifting ending. I had to do a lot of research on the Jersey Shore's boardwalks while drawing it (although it's not shown in this panel), and that so much of the photo reference was post-Hurricane Sandy made me sad. It was an honor to draw a nostalgic story showing a place that had been so beautiful and lively before that took place.

And as always, here are some links!

Below is a link to the publisher involved in publishing the "War" anthology as I mentioned previously, and then also the "Cities" anthology (discussed regarding the Jersey Shore story above):

Monday, June 17, 2013

Above, you can see the banner that I made for Creative Tuesdays! I did it part by hand and part digitally in the computer, using characters from a comic story I recently did called "Colonel Koala and the Mechanical Marsupial."

So far it's a little comic about a "real" teddy bear (kind of like the Velveteen Rabbit, but with a Steampunk bent and with Koalas), who is being followed around by an actual biological Koala, for potentially nefarious purposes. For this "Creative Tuesdays" challenge, I made a banner to showcase both characters.

The patterned, repeated Koala is the Mechanical Marsupial (teddy bear-- um, I mean marsupial). The one who is hiding and watching behind part of the "M" is Colonel Koala. The Mechanical Marsupial is sort of alive in parts of the story, but sometimes he's like the "Toy Story" characters or Hobbes from "Calvin and Hobbes," in that he will lie still and act like a toy without any consciousness at all.

And yes, for anyone who is vaguely familiar with anything I do on the interwebz, this banner (and the comic it stems from) are all inspired by Fuzzles the Koala. He is a plush toy of mine that pops into my work, and I'm making it a point to have him do so more often. Hence, the comic in part inspired by a mechanized version of him.

I have seen many illustrators do a great job of drawing the entire alphabet, but my heart is pretty firmly attached to these little Australian guys (whether in the wild, at a conservation space, or in plush toy form), so I knew I would either go with K for Koala or M for Marsupial. I am glad I went with "M," since I could re-do the banner at some point to also include Wombats, Kangaroos, and other critters.

In any event, the submission date is tomorrow, June 18th! Click below to submit to C.T. for this fun theme.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Better late than never! Here's my I.F. submission for "Children," for another story I just finished for an upcoming Grayhaven Comics anthology that's themed around Cities.

Previously, I showed panels that I drew for an upcoming Anthology that is themed around "War" stories, with the
story I illustrated being set in 1917 Petrograd.

The story here is set in New Jersey, and written by Ray Goldfield. Specifically, it is set at the shore, with a local girl showing her new vacationing friend around the many sights and sounds at Point Pleasant.

These panels show their trip to the aquarium and to the funhouse. They're twelve, and while we don't feel like a kid when we're orld-weary middle-schoolers, at that point we're all technically still "children"-- hence the submission for this theme.

And now, for links!

Here's a link to Grayhaven, the publisher involved in publishing the "War," "Cities," and other anthologies:

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Hello everyone! This week's "Creative Tuesdays" was much fun, and I made a greeting card for it.

For the theme of "Candy/Sweet," I depicted two girls (either a Big Sister and a Girl, or a Mom and a Girl) exploring a kind of Candy Land. I looked at an Italian children's book I have, as well as some old Eastern European illustrations, for ideas style-wise.

One is picking from the Candy-Cane tree, the other is watching a butterfly sprout from the Peppermint tree, and there are also various Chocolate Bars, Lollies, Cookies, and/or other Sweets hidden around the image. They've come across two animal friends who are also made of, or consuming, sugary sweetness. And the card's border is adorned with Jelly-Beans, to top off the "Candy" part of the theme, specifically.

I'm still trying to decide on a caption to write into it, but it will likely be a pun or rhyme on the "You're so sweet" variety.

In any case, everyone should go on and submit to this very fun theme! The link's below, and you have until June 4th to whip something up (an ice-cream, cool whip, or whipped cream pun is perhaps in there, or at least I am convincing myself it is since this theme has given me sweets on the brain!):

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Sneak Peek. Still working very hard on this project. The anthology seems that it's going to be a great one. Super excited!

All writing is thus far not shown (As Gray Haven is going to digitally letter it), and as the image states, all writing credit goes to the writer, the art credit goes to myself, and the publishing credit goes to the publisher.

Friday, May 24, 2013

For this week's "Illustration Friday" and the theme of "Tension," here is another comic panel sneak peek.

This panel is from a story I mentioned previously- the one I drew for an upcoming Anthology that is themed around "War" stories. The story I illustrated is set in 1917 Petrograd. Now Saint Petersburg, in 1917 Russia there were serious Bread Riots and a Revolution going on, in addition to WWI.

This panel depicts a little boy maneuvering through an angry crowd of rioters. He's tiny, so squeezing between their legs. I can't give away too much, but the other panels have a lot of fighting and fury going on.

So, I thought for this theme of "tension," showing a little boy who feels tense, terrified, and is trying not to be stepped on by the many angry grown-ups felt appropriate.

And now, for links!

Here's an article about Erica, who wrote this comic story that I illustrated:

Monday, May 20, 2013

I am about to turn into a Pumpkin. Being as it's after midnight and all. But before becoming a Halloween-esque thing of decor/edibility, here is a panel from a comic I am working on.

The theme this week is "liquid," and sad as they each can be, both tears and the rain are liquid. So, the rain falling down upon Mr. Creepy (Real) Steampunk Koala looking from the outside in, in the window, is the liquid he is affected by. The crying teddy bear (Plush) style Koala, is crying . And sadly, tears are liquid, unless you have cried so much or so hard it's mostly sounds/breathing/and no water comes out. Or, you are a teddy, and your crying process is different. But here, it's pretty similar to humans as far as he's crying.

What will happen to the sad Koala, un-knowingly being creeped upon? Shall he and his monacle come out the winner, or the Evil, Be-Spectacled (Be-Goggle-acled?) Koala? The answer will come once the comic is done! Hopefully, this lifetime! I kid... mostly.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Missed last week's C.T., boo! But happy to back for this week's entry for the theme of "Trio!"

I have been MIA, in life and in blogging, with assignments. But happily, I just finished one task (drawing a comic story), and part of it coincided with the theme of three. So, here is a sneak peek!

I cannot say too much so as not to spoil (and the as yet un-digitally-lettered bubbles are helping me not spoil), but here are two panel peeks from a story I drew for an upcoming Anthology. The theme of the book is "War," and the story I was assigned to draw centers on Russia's internal struggles during WWI. Specifically, the 1917 Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) Bread Riots/Revolution.

One of the main characters is a young adult, pictured in the white coat above. In this scene, a trio of friends have gathered to discuss their problems and upcoming strategies. I won't say more, but it was a very fun and educational comic to draw (lots of research on the history, costuming, and buildings of Old Russia!), and I was happy that working on it coincided with the C.T. theme.

And now, for links!

Here's an article on the very cool girl, Erica, who wrote the aforementioned story about Russia:

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Hello All! I haven't posted to I.A. in ages, but I miss the group and hope it is okay to belatedly return. I got swamped last summer with a project, and then the Fall onward was crazed, all the way up into 2013.

But it's a lovely group to partake in, and I miss the funny posts and beautiful illustrations I would always see from everyone, so here I am drifting back.

In any case, I quite liked the "high heels" theme, and thought to contribute to it in a silly way, with a partly hand-drawn/partly digital submission.

As I've been working more and more with my above character, Dya the Dinosaur, I thought it might be silly and amusing to try and incorporate her into this challenge. So, here is a drawing of her wearing heels, meant to look like a vintage ad. The theme of this challenge--high heels--are in her case, not stiletto heels, but clunky, semi-bulky and a bit strange. Then again, strange must be the name of the game, as designing footwear for T-Rexes is no small feat. Or, feet. Yay for puns!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

In order to be an actress, often, one must "train." Sometimes, that involves being trained in how to do stunts, how to do method acting, how to do the Meisner technique, and a whole lot of other theatre and film things. Below, for the second time this week, I'm featuring my actress character (Dya the T-Rex), who "trained" very hard for the franchise she starred in.

She was robbed of her Oscar, but-- she works hard, and she trained hard, and thus-- the above photo is something she has dreamt of, many a time. Having the award, actually being able to hold it (no small feat for this type of Dino), and crying reptilian tears of joy.

Quick phone photo of the drawing, but I wanted to submit this for "I.F." while I had a moment. Super swamped with work, but Dya is part of my overall works so I suppose this counts.

In any event, please go to: http://www.illustrationfriday.com by this coming Friday to submit for the theme of "Train." Thanks for reading, all! Peace, and Good night.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

So, in the spirit of C.T., as well as getting back into old projects (which I have been doing non-stop, seemingly unable to finish, Sisiphys-style of late), and a certain 3-D movie I just saw, I decided to draw a comic character who has popped up on my blog a few times. By the way, this is a late-night and tired blog, so please forgive if I am incoherent with sleepiness.

In keeping with the "Striped" theme, the background is striped. She is also wearing a striped scarf, with glasses. And, she is waving around a dress she fancies, colored in with brown-zebra-y stripes... possibly, without, A) thought of how as a T-Rex such as herself is going to be able to maneuver it with her famously tiny forearms, to get it it over her head, and, B) no thoughts of if that dress is her size.

Unless she just wants to add to her scarf collection, in which case she should be slightly more in luck.

A quick recap on my character. She is a Dino (a T-Rex, to be exact), nicknamed "Dya," and I created her quite some time ago. Usually I draw her to the front or facing with her head to the right, so I reversed it for this challenge.

She begun to return to my stories last year on the front of a sketchbook I made, and as I am finishing up the first installment of a comic series she's in (in the second installment), she is-- theoretically-- that much closer to being in her own comic series. By profession, she is an actress. She lives in present-day, lumbering about amongst the rest of us. She talks, and is anthropomorphic, so on. Extinction, luckily, not a problem when you're writing fiction.

In any case, Dya by personality is sweet, but somewhat histrionic, which can be a problem with her Dino size. So, here's hoping that her shopping spree won't end in any damage to the dress aisle-- especially if she gets frustrated. The Internet loves to suggest, in many a meme, that T-Rexes are easily frustrated and thwarted in certain goals, on account of their bodily structure.

This next part will come as no surprise, given the drawing here of dinos. For any "Jurassic Park" fans, the original 1993 film was just released recently in 3-D, in the theaters, and I loved it as a kid. I had to go back, to re-live it, but also to see the magnificence of the T-Rex, again. My character is inspired by the J.P. T-Rex, so it was a very fun and very needed movie trip.

In any event, my last comment to describe my "Striped" entry-- I thought it would be fun if my character wanted to go shopping. "Striped" made me think of fashion, and patterns. Hence my having the T-Rex explore her fashionista side. And, as I have friends with a great shop (which had a storefront and is now online), I drew in a little shout-out to them in the comic caption. That is the name of their store! And while I can't speak for the therapod community, I can vouch as a human who has shopped with them and own things that came from their store, that they're very sweet, and carry great clothes!

And, here's a link to the lovely aforementioned Vintage Store! Enid and Edgar is a great (now virtual) space, which is also sure to at some point carry "striped" patterns.http://enidandedgarvintage.com

Friday, April 12, 2013

This week's "Illustration Friday" is themed "Wild," so I'm showing the "wild" sketch I came up with at the Casey's Irish Pub Drink and Draw, last night, in DTLA! Very nice meetup, and I hope to go there again soon.

"Wild" here both means creature who is not domesticated, as well as"wild and crazy."

Because, if you were a girl with a random marsupial springing out of
your head, would you not look a bit more concerned about that fact? If
all you would muster was an unimpressed side-eye, that lack of a
response would be"wild and crazy," would it not?

This bottom version is exactly the same, except I liked how the red border of my sketchbook looked scanned, but couldn't decide if I liked it better with or without, so both are being included. Also, if anyone reads this and knows whether that creature is a Sugar Glider or something else, please inform my clueless self.

Super exhausted, so going to sign off now before it gets incoherent. To submit for this I.F. theme you have a full week, and you can go here to do so:

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Behind on new b/w illos, so for I.F. I am submitting an oldie but goodie. This entry is also a note to self: do more intense, black and white things! Love color tremendously, but there's something about jet black ink and stark white paper that's unlike anything else.

The theme for this week is "Urban," so I decided to submit a creation with a New York sensibility.

"Crossing Cars," a pen and ink piece that shows... well, the more noir-y, creeped-out feels one can get when in the NYC Subway.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Haven't been able to blog for C.T., or at all, as I was out of the country (must show blogs and drawings and such on that, but not yet), and then been out of town, and all matters of craziness. But yesterday and today, I finally got together my sketch for "Creative Tuesdays" and the blog theme of "Newborn."

﻿

In 2010 and 2013 I attended this amazing event called the "Bulldog Beauty Parade," where I took a million inspiring pictures of cute, wrinkly awesomeness. The Mom Dog to the left is inspired from a real life dog I saw at the 2010 parade, and her little Newborn Pup is inspired by, well, Google Image Search.

I believe my newborn puppy might be a tad too big and awake looking to be a newborn in terms of it being the actual day the pup was born, but she is small enough to at least be in her first week of life, so, I believe she is young enough to still qualify. In any event, I also included a little text blurb which is of a phrase often said to those with a new human or animal baby, complete with some stork-iness thrown in.

There are still about four hours to submit today, so if you're interested go to "Creative Tuesdays" over yonder to submit!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Haven't had time to update, so am behind on the Daily Doodlers challenge! Currently super tired and jet-lagged-- had an amazing time being abroad, as I just got back from my first ever trip to Italy late last night.

Bologna to California isn't even directly possible, so I had to go from Bologna to Munich, Germany (which is beautiful, from the forest I could briefly see out the window while landing!), and then right from Munich to LAX. Thirteen hours of flight-y fun! :-p

Anyway, the food in Italy is wonderful, and Napoli especially makes great pastries, so coming up with the below greeting card for the "Pie" theme wasn't hard after all the Italian inspiration I had. Here are two girls baking cookies and a pie! One rolls the crust, while the other is mischievous:

This card is also a good representation of what it's like when one of my best friends (who I visited in Italy) and I cook together. He concentrates very hard on the task at hand, and I'm totally that person who sneaks a bite before she should. So, in this illo, my spirit animal is the left hand girl, while his is the right hand one.

So yes, I went to Italy to visit one of my best friends for about ten days, and I don't have words to describe how beautiful and amazing a country it was. I had the chance to do some sketches, and am busy on comics (a.k.a. "fumetti") things right now, so I hope to post all that and photos when I can. Anyway, I myself am part Italian on my Dad's side. And it's the part of my background/family I'm closest to. So, visiting the homeland (and even getting to go to the town my surname comes from) was something I've always wanted to do, and am grateful I had the chance to finally follow through with it.

Anyhoo, tl;dr! The above doesn't have to do directly with drawing, so without further ado, I'll include the Doodlers links below as per before:

If you want to participate in the challenge for the rest of this week, here's the info:Daily Doodler InstructionsFor more from the artist and lady behind these themes gerself, please go to Danni Jones's Twitter!@DaniDrawsIf you are so inclined, please go to my Twitter:@drawdvl

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

For the @DaniDraws #DailyDoodlers challenge today, the theme is "The Last Book You Read."

As that was "Cursed Pirate Girl," which is a fantasy-- super inky, and lovely, and full of exquisite detail-- I made a card that depicts kids reading a book which pulls them into its fantasy-- just as "Pirate Girl" did to me when I read it.

So, this card is more a thematic homage than a drawing of any of the "Pirate Girl" characters. Instead of nautical adventures, this little girl is having adventures in Turtle and Fairy-land. Her little friends seem bemused-- perhaps the human boy more, as the turtle is beginning to wince under their weight.

If you'd like to participate in the challenge, here's the info:Daily Doodler InstructionsFor more from the artist and composer of this theme herself, please go to Danni Jones's Twitter!@DaniDrawsAnd here is my Twitter:@drawdvl

Friday, March 8, 2013

Things from a bygone era, which some would call "yesterday:" Fifties Car Culture, Bob's Big Boy

(although that's still around), Hot-Rods, and Waitresses on Roller Skates.Those are all things in my pen and ink piece "Pin Up or Shut Up," which is my submission for this week's I.F. And, that I'm posting in time for Friday Night's Twitter theme of #FridayNightArtDorks.

Sold the original at February's A.C.E. event, but the prints are still around! They'll next be around for MoCCA (ZOMG, so much to prepaaaaare).Got to head off, but here are some links!The aforementioned A.C.E. event, both a link to the event itself and the last event's photos:All about the Anaheim Art Crawl Experience (A.C.E.) Quarterly Event!

March eighth, midnight. I'm a pumpkin! Just kidding, but I did get together my next #DailyDoodlers sketch, which is themed "Disney."

Well, this is more new/CGI than traditional Disney. It's also technically from the Disney/Pixar Universe. I love old hand-drawn stuff, and I love new Pixar works. So, this sketch combines both! It's a tribute to the fabulous Roz from "Monster's Inc.," but done in an old fashioned/pen and inky drawing.

As always, she is not impressed. Her side-eye is epic. And she won't even deign to look at that pesky paperwork.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Hi everyone! Well, it's technically March Seventh. So, before trying (and failing) at this whole "Getting any rest with an annoying cold thing," I knocked out a sketch for today's theme of today's #DailyDoodlers, @DaniDraws prompted theme of "Captain."

I used a Pitt Brush Pen, a Copic Marker, and a Sakura Black Pen.

I realize many people are probably going to go the nautical route with this one-- so, even though my hues are blue/coolers, they will not be those of a ship captain. The girl in my picture is the caption of her sports team!

Yes, she is a Cheer Captain-- and yes, I do consider it a sport :-p Very few people who know me as an adult know (or believe) that this was my main sport in high school, but it was! I definitely was not the prototypical cheerleader, given I was often called "Team Daria." In fact, many girls on the team I was friendly with were all about theatre/dance (our school had a program for that, during and after school), and doing extracurricular/working hard for A's.

Perhaps my character for this #DailyDoodlers challenge is such a girl, as she's Captain (apologies for the iffy qualities of these phone photos, but it says it on top of her uniform shell), working hard to do a difficult jump (it is called a toe-touch), and smiling in the face of it all.

Below are some more snapshots/different photo angles of Miss Captain.

(Toe-touches are super fun, and they were my favorite jump to do-- whether while cheerleading or dancing! Sometimes, but not often, being double-jointed/hypermobile has its advantages.)

I've only discovered since living in California, but, apparently some schools have a Dance Team and a Cheer Team, wherein the latter mostly cheers, without very much dancing, gymnastics, or stunt-performing. Perhaps that's why some naysayers poo-poo it as a sport-- but given that I performed at a school with no Dance Team, and at a Cheer Team which was very hip-hop/dance routine heavy, and also stunt/gymnastics/jumping heavy, I definitely can vouch for Cheer Teams where you are tumbling and dancing your butt off. It's fun, it's athletic, and it is grueling.

So, enough of that. "Captain" was a fun theme, and I'm excited about the next word in the sketch challenge! As before, here are some links:

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Hi everyone! I am very happy to have found Sunday Postcard Art, so, I am posting again for this weeks' challenge :-D "Silhouettes" was really cool and I am still going through and admiring everyone's beautiful entries! This challenge is also sure to produce a lot of really beautiful submissions.

I just recently finished a piece for a gallery show (which featured fictional mushrooms), so I took a clip of that and digitally added other mushrooms from a previous piece of mine for this "Sunday Postcard Art" challenge. As I said, the first piece did technically have mushrooms... but they were not the kind you automatically think of when in your garden ;-)

My postcard for the challenge can be seen below-- any fans of Gameboy, Nintendo, Video Games, and Princess Peach, Yoshi, or the Ghost, will recognize some of the characters below.

The first set of mushrooms that were already in the piece were the Mario Bros. style mushrooms framing the princess. For the challenge, I also added some more normal mushrooms in digitally. Those are from another piece of mine, called "The Fur Tree."

The main focus of that piece is of little creatures playing in and around a tree, but, there are a couple of snails and caterpillars in two tiny sets of mushrooms towards the bottom of that piece-- so, I thought I'd give them their due/give them more of a starring role by having them frame this postcard piece. They're more of a soft, salmon pink in the original. So, I decided to digitally up the contrast on everything to make the many pink and blue mushrooms (as well as everything else) pop dramatically.

The original piece this postcard was cropped and edited from, is called "Snow Peach and the Seven 'Shrooms." It was done for an art opening that just happened last night at L.A. Comic Book Store/Gallery, Meltdown Comics.

The show's theme was "8-Bit-Lit," meaning, combining old-school video games with literary works. Mine was a combination of Princess Peach (from Mario Bros.) and "Snow White." In addition to my submission for "Sunday Postcard Art," I've included the original, full-piece below for reference. This one has only digital mushrooms, but it also has the game's stars/a bunch of other Mario characters/patterning and framing that was meant to hint at a video-gamey version of Art-Noveau.

Creating the piece was a lot of fun, and it will be up at Meltdown Comics until later this month! So, if anyone reading this happens to be in or near the L.A. area, likes video games and/or literature, and enjoys mashups, come on by and see it. "8-Bit Lit" is a fun show with a lot of creative combinations, and I recommend a visit.

So, thank you everyone for reading, and sending good wishes to all! Below is the link for "Toadstools/Mushrooms," which can be submitted to up until next Saturday March Ninth.

Hello There! About Me

Here's my blog! When I've the time, I post here. Sometimes writing and random thoughts, but mostly with updates on projects, art fairs, and submissions to the many cool art challenges online.
I'm a New Yorker, who loves London, who lives in Los Angeles. Otherwise, I am an artist, illustrator, and freelance writer who is also a "cardtoonist." Which means, I create handmade cartoon cards- and often caption them with puns inside. I also do sequential work and contributed a story to the "Samurai Graphic Novel" anthology, released in early 2011, with info here: http://tinyurl.com/samuraigraphicnovel.
Please say hello! donna.v.letterese@gmail.com